Two of 2024's Biggest Indie Devs Are Teaming Up For A Horror Game

Two of last year’s most prominent indie developers are partnering for a brand-new horror game centered around experiences within the entertainment industry.

Pocketpair, the developer behind the controversial crafting and monster-catching game PalWorld, is launching a publishing label. According to the company, the new entity called Pocketpair Publishing will “provide comprehensive support for game development through funding and publishing for indie developers and studios.”

The first game that Pocketpair Publishing will support will be the next project from Tales Of Kenzera: Zau developer Surgent Studios. Founded by House Of The Dragon actor Abubakar Salim, Surgent Studios is a brand-new team that delivered one of 2024’s best Metroidvanias and most emotionally charged stories.

Unfortunately for the promising upstart developer, securing funding for its ambitious follow-up project proved difficult amid the industry’s downturn over the last two years. Last October, Salim gave an early look at the studio’s sophomore effort tentatively titled “Project Uso.” He described the game as “a single-player, isometric, Afro-Gothic action RPG” inspired by the influential 1999 classic Planescape: Torment.

The newly announced horror game will be unrelated to Project Uso and won’t take place in the Tales Of Kenzera universe, according to Salim.

“There are many challenges involved in making games, but we want to alleviate the process as much as possible and provide an environment where creators can pursue their ideals,” Head of Pocketpair Publishing said. “I deeply sympathize with [Surgent Studios’] original ideas and passion and I am honored to help them make it a reality.”

Neither company had much to share about the untitled project. But Salim’s single clue suggests it’ll be about something close to home for the actor-turned-game developer.

“We noticed a pattern in the entertainment industry, and Pocketpair has given us the opportunity to make a horror game about it,” Salim said. “It will be short and weird, and we think players will be interested in what we have to say.”

While it may not seem like much to go on, these few details excite me to no end.

The last year has been a great reminder of just how effective the medium of games can be for shorter, impactful horror stories, with experiences like Strange Scaffold’s Clickholding and Wrong Organ’s Mouthwashing. Considering how well Tales of Kenzera: Zau told its story through sharp writing and gameplay, the prospect of that team applying those skills to a genre totally different from what their first game was is more than enough to pull me in.

Salim also mentions players being “interested in what we have to say.” Horror with commentary is the most engaging and memorable in my opinion. There’s plenty of room for schlocky, borderline camp series like Resident Evil and Dead By Daylight to shine. But a team making a horror game grounded in real-life, contemporary observations of its creators is exactly the sort of thing I want to see more of in gaming.

This approach to horror is what made Jordan Peele’s contributions to the genre since 2017 so refreshing. Surgent Studios’ shared experiences good and bad in the games industry and Salim’s decade-plus as a Black man breaking through in Hollywood are experiences I’d consider wholly unique in a predominantly white games industry. Whatever pattern it is that it's noticed, I’m excited to lend an ear to what they have to say about it.

It’s been a year of ups and downs for developer Pocketpair. While Palworld was easily one of 2024 biggest surprises, it's also embroiled in a legal battle with Nintendo and the Pokemon Company over its similarities to Pokemon’s monster-catching mechanics. All the while, Palworld has managed to sell over 12 million copies worldwide.